So, I did a google search of burning man. Sure, lots of pics, personal diaries, religious rants on it's satanistic patterns. But what was interesting was all of the time people put into hating on the event, and mostly the org.
Fot the most part, it seemed that the 'haters' were pretty clueless. Not stupid, but mostly ignorant as to how things work in the real world. It's hard to not have a great experience, IMO, and I think that most of the detractors did too. Whats interesting is how they feel duped. A lot of people come away with a sence of lovey-dovey, everything is free and beautiful, and it all just happens. Then they learn that BM is not a non-profit organization, that there is a certain leval of comercialism and brand protection that goes on. Understandibly, much of the BM literature speaks against such things so they feel betrayed. But what they dont seem to realize is that nothing "just happens". That it is a tremendous undertaking, and a certain leval of protection must be kept to ensure its survival.
I for one appreciate the "brand protection" and the regulation of media. I feel that it is the only way to protect against the wrong image which could lead to canceling the event by authorities.
As far as the corporate structure. Well, a gift economy can only exist in 1 place, and only for a week. As we've all experienced, BM takes $$$$ ( I know I spent a lot).
What are your thoughts?

Any bad experiences with the org (I've heard of them, but haven't heard them)?

Life is too short to really "Hate" anything. You can hate your commute, you can hate your work, but to truly HATE a person...it's not worth it. What does one get out of it anyway? Stress, worry, anger...all things that can be easily internalized and then it comes back to bite you in the ass. It's so easy to HATE people. But once you go down that path, you start paying attention to the object of that hate. You feed them in a sense...with attention, with comments, with media coverage perhaps. And it will boomerange on you almost everytime, and you can become the polar opposite of the person you hate which can be just as bad.

The whole point is not to fall for the peace and love BS, it's about saying that person annoys the hell out of me but I'm not letting him be the focus of my time. Screw them. Again, life is really too short to hate.

Kinetic II wrote:Life is too short to really "Hate" anything. You can hate your commute, you can hate your work, but to truly HATE a person...it's not worth it.

I can honestly say that there are 2 people in this world that I hate with every part of me. Both caused me severe mental trauma (some that still haunts me today) What does it get me. It gets me a lot actually. It gives me a measuring tool for other annoyances in my life. Sure I hate tofu but do I hate them as much as so and so. Ok.. so see.. Its bad. but not that bad.

I have no regrets hating them the way i do. If either of them were to come to an unfortunate end. A sly smile will grace my face. I often have dreams where I am beating the living shit out of one of them for doing what they did to me.

However Hats are much more fun than hate.

"My husband and I are either going to buy a dog or have a child. We can't decide whether to ruin our carpets or ruin our lives."

blyslv wrote:I actually did go to one website, ~cardhouse... or something. The guy is a conflict junkie! What a loon.

Actually, I liked his website a lot. He was part of BiggRigg Industries at one time, if I'm not mistaken. I met him during 98 I believe.

Without someone taking serious knocks at Burning Man and the organization, how do you judge where the middle is? I take his rants and raves with the exact same grain of salt that I take Larry's Bohemian lectures. Same as anything, the truth is somewhere in between. Utopian societies have been tried for ages, and they never work. Burning Man isn't a perfect world, nor the model of one. It's also not a Satan worshipping convention funded by MTV. For every one Dr. Cliff, there is one Uber-Burner.

That's why I go. Living in Portland, I get enough of the hippy-dippy peace and love crap. I need variety.

RebA! wrote: I have no regrets hating them the way I do. If either of them were to come to an unfortunate end. A sly smile will grace my face.

Funny - I spent years hoping one of my especially mean & vicious neighbors would die. Recently, while I was away - she did! My friends asked if it was really appropriate to throw a party . . . and if I thought I was going to hell . . . and I said yeah - only as soon as I get that matching handbasket.

So RebA! : Would you throw a party - or would you feel bad for talking smack about the dead? and most importantly what color handbasket do you need to match your Hat?

Rob the Wop wrote:Without someone taking serious knocks at Burning Man and the organization, how do you judge where the middle is? I take his rants and raves with the exact same grain of salt that I take Larry's Bohemian lectures. Same as anything, the truth is somewhere in between.

I agree, but his approach was vile and illogical and seemed more motivated by personal hatred then any well thought out critique of that silliness in the desert.

Cardhouse was one of the websites I visited. At first I thought he was just a lamo, but then I realized what he was: his own art. I felt his arguements were ill conceived and lacked any substance. Thats when I realized his participation is sort of an 'anti love' kinda thing. His contribution is detraction. Which is fine, I guess, but he comes off more of a tool than anything. He didn't really bring anything substantial other than an opinion he probably formed while smoking a bong load.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with street slang, in this context "to hate" does not mean "to intensely dislike".

"To hate on" something or someone = to gripe, whine, implies sour grapes. A hater (or "hata") is one who cannot stand the thought of someone else having a good time, who has no sense of humor, who's jess' jealous. From original expression "playa hata".